Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced confidence on Friday that he and Donald Trump could open a "new page" in troubled Turkey-US ties when they meet in May, after discord over Syria and 2016’s failed coup. The May summit between Erdogan and Trump, their first face-to-face encounter as heads of state, is a chance to mend a relationship between two key Nato allies that was strained by a series of disputes under former US president Barack Obama. "I believe that we will open a new page with Mr Trump in Turkey-US relations," Erdogan told the Atlantic Council Istanbul summit ahead of the May 16 meeting in the US. Erdogan made clear he expected a turnaround from Trump on the use of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) as the chief US ally on the ground in Syria in the battle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists. Turkey says the YPG is merely the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an insurgency since 1...
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